World history as it is happening

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As described on my personal website, my experience and research have convinced me that the world is on the verge of the greatest change in human history: the transition from the culture of war that we have had for tens of thousands of years to a new culture, a culture of peace.

My experience:

1) 25 years of scientific work on the brain mechanisms of aggression, which led to the Seville Statement on Violence in 1986 which concluded that “the same species that invented war is capable of inventing peace.”

3) Several years working in the old Soviet Union where I saw how empires crash when they are based on the culture of war since it cannot be sustained.

My research:

1) The first and only detailed model of how aggressive behavior is organized in the brain, based on over a hundred scientific experiments. The model shows how aggressive behavior has nothing to do with human warfare. Warfare is a cultural invention, not a biological system.

2) The first ever world history of the culture of war (there are many histories of war, but not its culture). The history shows how the nation-state has come over time to monopolize the culture of war. Hence a culture of peace can only be attained through a new and different global system of governance.

3) Twelve years of research on the forces at work in the world for a culture of peace, including the midterm and final World Reports from the civil society to the United Nations for the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Nonviolence for the Children of the World. (2001-2010), and follow-up information since then on the Culture of Peace News Network (CPNN) and its bulletins.

Conclusion:

We can see from the World Reports and CPNN that more than ever before in history people believe that we need to abolish war. This consciousness has been growing for a century now. And more recently, over the past few decades, the consciousness is growing that we must cultivate and create a culture of peace to replace the culture of war. If you believe, as I do, that the ultimate force in world history is the consciousness of people, then you can see why I believe that the world is on the verge of a great transformation. What is still lacking, however, is an institutional framework outside of the nation-state to make it possible. For a proposal in this regard, see my blog of June 1, 2016.